nanotechnology

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Apparently some amazing things can be done with this new, amazing technology.

We have some nanobots now but they are really primitive/experimental. I've read that in the future the nanobots will be sophisticated enough to allow us to have near perfect control over matter. As good control over matter as we do over information today. Now that would be fascinating - a world full of general assemblers.

Other benefits include a way to cure genetic dieases (by going in cell by cell and altering the genetic code of a person - this could go as far as to removing the dieases from the reproductive cells thus the fixes would be inherited) and cures for viruses (the nanobots could just go into the bloodstream and disassemble the viruses before they have a chance to infect a cell for example).

There are some major drawbacks though. I wonder who else knows about this?

I foresee a time in which nanites become a natural part of the 'human' body, myself. Not only will they be our constant companions, keeping us healthy, but we will transmit nanites when we breed, and the new human will grow up with nanites in its system, which produce more nanites as the child grows, just as if they were a perfectly natural part of their body.

As for the drawbacks... I don't see any except the potential for use in biological warfare, but meh, almost any technology has the potential to be used as weapons. We already are able to genetically engineer bacteria and viruses, so there'd not really be that great an additional threat from nanotechnology.

The drawback is profound; people will lose their sense of purpose.
Nanotechnology will potentially enable humans to live forever if they wanted to. Nanobots within the body will prevent and destroy invaders and cancers better than any immune system can, and they can condition cell development so that their daugher cell successors can be just as active and effective, for example. People would be able to change physical characteristics of their body such as their hair color/eye color at will. I've heard that using nano-scale air vacuums on the body surface will make it possible to fly. All kinds of crazy things are possible that have only been possible in dreams.
This has a huge downside to it as well. Anybody who has ever played "God Mode" in a video game knows that after a short while, they've done everything and there is nothing else to do, and they become very bored. The same goes for a nano-enhanced human. If a human is able to do everything it could have ever imagined or dreamed of, it will do all of those things but will soon become very bored and miserable with a life with no new things to look forward to.
What makes life interesting are challenges and experiences that lie ahead. Ambition and goals keep people looking forward to their future. Such developments in nanotech would destroy the concept of future experiences and essentially hand all the fruits of life and heaven to you at once. With no challenges, every day would become exactly the same and people would go insane.
Life is characterized by constant change and death is characterized by constant sameness. It nano yields sameness from day to day, then what happens to the need for change that characterizes all living?
I guess my stance on the situation is, nanotech can be nice but it should have a strict limit for the sake of keeping the fun intact.

Yes, but the ultimate goal of technology is a state of perfection. Assuming that human potential grows, all of those goals such as colonizing other worlds and discovering secrets of life the universe will be achieved. Once this occurs, what would do next?
But who knows, really. It might make sense, but the infinity of space and time might make the state of perfection impossible to reach.
Maybe the universe has a built in failsafe to prevent perfection from being reached.
Who knows?

Making a nanoswarm which could eat everything and make more nanites which eat everything would be unfeasable. Like lifeforms (and they would be a form of life, sort of), they wouyld have to be specialized to some extent or another. And there's ways to protect against nanites (blue goo, foot-thick synthesized diamond, etc...)

Due to a rather long list of concepts, benefits, and drawbacks i will sum up the future of nanontechnology with this: Nanotechnology's gonna be nifty.

While I realise that I have to be patient, I can't wait for nanotechnology to reach 'maturehood'. As said, it will definitely raise some ethic issues somewhere in the future but it can help us dealing with some concrete problems.
In fact, even the cosmetics industry took that last statement very serious, as there currently among the greastest producers of nanomolecules in the world.

Maybe if people were immortal we'd start thinking more long-term for a change. So many of our problems are caused by short-term thinking, especially environmental issues ("I'll be dead before the ice caps melt, why should I care?")

I hope this nano technology reaches maturity and I have enough money to be able to afford it to be able to live forever before I die. Honestly with the ammount of potentional of things I could do if I never had to worry about time.
I bet I could even by then if nanotechnology was that advanced skip sleep because there would be some way for me tobe able to stay awake for ever and just have the nanotechnology restoring my system.

I think the that the sole goal of technology in my mind is to gain immortality. Immortality isn't like any thing differen't in your mind changes its not like all of a suddened you become bored for some reason. Its just like life as you know it now continues and you just don't cease to be.

Is it really so bad to just no want to die?

Well i wouldn't call it bad, but it can be kind of foolish to want what you'll never have.

And personally i've never been dead before so i can't say i know i wouldn't enjoy it.

When you are dead you don't exist. I just wish I didn't have to cease existing.